CA2050774A1

CA2050774A1 - Starch mixtures as pudding starches

Info

Publication number: CA2050774A1
Application number: CA002050774A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Rolf Stute; Heinz Kern
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Unilever Bestfoods North America
Priority date: 1990-10-03
Filing date: 1991-09-06
Publication date: 1992-04-04
Also published as: FI914201A0; ES2051548T3; DE69101359T2; NO302393B1; DK0478961T3; EP0478961A1; ATE102443T1; NO913875D0; AU8361491A; IE66504B1; US5324532A; IN172130B; DE4031162C1; HK62894A; IE913290A1; FI107117B; EP0478961B1; FI914201L; JPH04229147A; AU646286B2

Abstract

Abstract The invention relates to the use of a mixture of pea starch and corn starch in a ratio of 9:1 to 1:9 as a gelling and texturing agent for foodstuffs as well as for foodstuffs subjected to heating, consisting of a mixture of pea starch, preferably smooth pea starch, and corn starch in a ratio of 9:1 to 1:9, preferably 9:1 to 3:7 and in particular 8:2 to 4:6.

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Description

Starch Mix~ures as Puddinq Starches The invention relates to starch mixtures like binding or gelating agents respectively for foodstuf~s subjected to heating, e.~. sauces and cooked puddings, in particular cooked puddings having a ~lan-like structure. Flans are fine, delicately meltlng pudding-like desserts or sweets which are made by heating or steaming in a water bath and characterized by a good demoldability, a smooth surface as well a~ a good form stability:(no change in shape and heighe) . ~Typical gelling agents used for flans are agar agar, carrageenan ;and ~tarch.

It is known that a number of legume starche~ in particular pea and lentil starch, in comparison to corn:~starch which is preferred for making puddinqs,~display an increased gelation capacity and~are, therefore,:suitable for us~ as .

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pudding starch. Due to the higher retrogradation tendency of smooth pea starch or lentil starch, demoldable puddings can be prepared with an amount of starch reduced by almost 50% in comparison to corn starch (R. Stute: St~rke (= starch) 42 (1990) 207-21~).

Pregelatinized legume starches, for instance from peas, were already proposed for making demoldable instant desserts (EP-A1-240 313).

However, during application, non-pregelatinized pea starch shows two disadvantages: the first disadvantage is the delayed gelatinization in comparison to corn or potato starch.
In practical use this means a longex cooking time. In the case of a short cooking time (a9 usual with corn starch), the gelatinization o~ the starch granules is not yet complete t and the gels obtained do not have the required smooth texture, but oten have a grainy, brittle mouth feel. A preparation that is less problematic with regard to the preparation conditions, i.e.
a preparation requiring shorter cooking times, is, therefore, desirable.

The second disadvantage of pea starch gels is the stronger syneresis, which means an increased water separation, particularly at refrigerator temperatures. This water separation and the gelation behavior are the result of the higher amylose content of pea starch. In the same way that the 7 ~.

association of the amylose chains leads to the formation of a gel which is moldable and cutable, conditions which promote the further association of the amylose chains (i.e. longer storage times and~or refrigeration temperatures) lead to increased water separation.

Thus, there is a need for improving the syneresis stability of gels based on pea starch, such as of cooked puddings, while the lowar starch concentration as compared to corn starch as well as the smooth, flan-like texture should be maintained.

In contraqt to the above-described disadvantages, it is, however, well known that pea starch gels are less sticky than corn starch gels and have a characteristic flan-like texture. Due to this advantageous propexty, the use of pea starch seemq desirable for ma]cing desserts and puddinqs.

Surprislngly it has been found that these advantageous prop~rties of pea starch are maintained, while the disadvantageous properties thereof are simu1taneousl~
eliminated when pea starch is used in a mixture wi h corn starch.

Thus, in its most general form, the present invention compri~es the use of a mixture of pea starch and corn starch in a ratio of about 9:1 to about 1:9 as binding and gelling agen~

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for foodstuffs, in particular for making cooked puddings. The term cooked pudding also covers such puddings of flan-like structure, for which the invention is particularly well-suited.

Subject matter of the invention, thus, are also the mixtures to be used according to the invention, in the form of texture-giving substances for foodstuffs subjected to heating, consisting of a mixture pea starch, preferably smooth pea starch, and corn starch in a ratio of about 9:1 to about 1:9, preferably about 9:1 to about 3:7 and in particular about 8:2 to about 4:6.

The gels produced with ~he starch mixtures accordi~g to the invention have the advantages of pea starch gels, namely the typical flan-like texture, but can be prepared in a simpler manner. They can be prepared like gels from pure pea starch with a lower amount of starch, they display a good mouth feel and have an improved syneresls stability. Depending on the liquid used (the structure of the finished gel, i5 also dependent on the liquid which is used, e.g. whole milX~, homogenized milk, skim milk, etc.) the effect achieve~ is not only that the smooth flan-like structure is maintained completely or to a large extent with additlons of corn starch of up to 70%, but it i~ also surprising that no increase in the starch concentration is necessary, and therefore, witH the same low ~tarch concentration of 50 g/l demoldable gels are obtained.

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~ t was particularly surprising that, without an increase in the starch concentration, the flan-like character and the demoldability are maintained in virtually unrestricted manner down to a content of only 40~ pea starch. It is ~ust as surprising that relatively ~mall amounts of corn starch are sufficient for improving the stirring-in behavior of the mix.
In addition to the two surprising (non-linear) property changes, another advantage i5 that the water separation improves continuously.

The use of the mixtures of pea and corn starch according the invention, therefore, provides a number of advantages:

1. A lower concentration of starch means less calories from starch.

2. The preparation of the puddin~s, sauce , etc. can take place in the same manner, i.e. as with corn starch (i.e. the housewife or chef can proceed in the same way as before).

3. The lower starch concentratlon means a general advantage in terms of costs~ on the one hand, the addition of the usually less expensive corn starch means a cost reduction. On the other hand also the addition of pea starch to corn starch 2~7~

leads to a cost reduction due to the lower starch requirement, in mixtures in which the corn starch gel properties dominate.

4. The gel structure (texture, mouth feel etc.) can be altered by proper selection of the mixing ratio and, in particular, can be adjusted to the liquid used. Flan-like texture, demoldabllity and stability in shape are nQvertheless maintained.

5. During tho mixing of the two starches lt is po~sible to integrate further recipe ingredlents, such as coloring and flavoring ingredients, and any additional ingredients having an influence on the texture and water bincling capacity (e.g. carragheens, alginats, waxy rice starches).

6. The starch mixtuxes accordin~ to the invention can be used in the same manner as corn starch for making sauces (e.g. vanilla sauce) in addition to making cooked puddings. The advantages are good stirring-in properties and short cooking times.

In addition to corn ctarch accordin~ to the inv~ntion other starches can also be used to modify the gel prope~ties.

Potato and tapioca starch may be used advantageously for modifying the gel properties towards softer, more creamy gels which also show absolutely no stickiness (example 5).

On the other hand, it is not possible to simply replace the corn starch by potato or ~apioca starch (cf.
comparative example 4).

Example 1 Cooked puddings (type vanilla) were prepared from mixtures of pea and corn starch ln the usual manner (mlxing of the starch in 50 ml milk, addition of the suspension to the remaining milk which ha~ been brought to the boil, and short boiling for approx. 30 sec.), using 40 g sugar and in total 500 ml milk tfat content 3.5%). The amount of starch was always 25 g.

Table 1 describes the sensory propertie5, demoldability and the stability in shape and height of~the puddings obtained.

In thiR re~pec~, the terms demoldability and stability in shape and height mean that the gels obtained after cooling and after demolding show a smooth surface without cracks and the shape is being maintained both in width and in height (no sinking in and no expansion in width).

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The fact that the flan-like character of the pudding surprisingly is maintained down to a ratio of only 40% pea starch is also evidenced by penetrometex curves in addltion to the sensory evaluation. While in case of corn starch, or for puddings containing up to 70~ corn starch, the force measured up to the maximum penetration depth (15 mm) increases continuously, the gels in the other puddings break apart - this being also the reason why they are called flan-like, and the measured value drops.

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A striking fact in the penetrometer curves is that ln addition to the agreement with the sensory evaluation, gels of very similar consistency are obtained over a broad concentration range (from 80% to 40~ p~a starch).

Example 2 Analogously to example 1, cooked puddings (type vanilla) were prepared using low-fat homogenized milk (~at content 1.5%). However, as a difference from example 1, the cooking time was varied, and the liquid separation wa~
determined after two days in the refrigerator.

Table 2 describes the puddings obtained in comparison to pure pea starch.

Table 2 Liquid separation (ml) Sensory Judgment of different after different Mixing ratio concentrations cooking times cooking times peas corn (q/500 ml) 15' 30' 60' 15' 30' 60' lO0 0 25 15 10 9 smooth flan-like texture, ~ut rough sensation in mouth, constantly decreasing with increasing cooking time 8 8 7 smooth flan-like texture - 4.5 2 smooth~flan-like texture - 10 ~

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This example illustrates the strong influence of the cooking time on the liquid separation as well as on the sensory properties. Puddinys consisting of starch mixtures thus can be prepared more easily than those of pure pea starch, with the surprising effect that already the relatively low addition of 20% corn starch clearly increase~ the syneresis stability without significant changes in the sensorical prop~rtie ExamPle 3 In analogous manner ~o example 1, chocolate puddings with 7 g cocoa were prepared.

Table 3 indicates the water separation and the sensory proper~ies of the puddings obtained:

Table 3 Mixing ratio concentration Liquid* sensory peas_~_corn (q/500 ml) sesaration (ml) Judqment 100 0 27 37 flan~liXe 90 10 27 3S flan-~like 0 100 37 ~ 0 typical ~ corn starch * after 3 days in refrigerator This example shows that corresponding results are achieved for chocolate puddings as well.

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comParative Example 4 Cooked puddings were prepared analogously to example 1, with the addition of 20 and 30~ tapioca and potato starch instead of corn starch.

Table 4 and the corresponding penetrometer curves show that the typical flan-like texture, when the foregoing starches are used, is destroyed already with these relatively hmall additions, especially in case of the tapioca starch where the form stability is significantly decreased (lower height of the demolded pudding).

Example 5 Cooked puddings were made analogously to example 1, however, only part of the corn starch was replaced by potato starch. AB evidenced by table 5, demoldability, suxface and stability in shap~ and height remain good, however, the flan-like gel character is changed towards a more creamy texture. The mouth feeling i~ pleasant and in no way sticky.
The gel is still compact and cutable, and breaks when subjected to mechanical forces (as in the mouth) andr furthermore, is not sticky. Thus via the addition of potato starch a light and creamy, still demoldable gel can be obtained.

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Claims

1. The use of pea starch and corn starch mixtures in a ratio of about 9:1 to about 1:9 as a gelling and texturing agent for foodstuffs.

2. The use according to Claim 1, characterized in that the pea starch is a smooth pea starch.

3. The use according to Claim 1 or 2 for making cooked puddings.

4. The use according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the pea starch (a) and the corn starch (b) are present in a mixing ratio of about 9:1 to about 3:7, preferably in a mixing ratio of about 8:2 to about 4:6, respectively.

5. A gelling and texturing agent for foodstuff subjected to heating, consisting of a mixture of pea starch, preferably smooth pea starch, and corn starch in a ratio of from about 9:1 to about 1:9, preferably about 9:1 to about 3:7 and in particular about 8:2 to about 4:6